Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed he is finding it ‘a big change’ to be working from home amid the coronavirus pandemic after the social media giant closed off its offices.
Zuckerberg, 35, lives with his wife Priscilla and their two daughters Maxima, four, and August, two, in a cozy $7million Palo Alto home. They also own a $59million Lake Tahoe compound as well as properties in Hawaii and San Francisco.
He made the comment during a press call on Wednesday where Zuckerberg also announced that Facebook would be rolling out a ‘coronavirus information center’, a day after a bug in its anti-spam system blocked the publication of links to news stories about the coronavirus.
In December 2019, Zuckerberg told CBS that he sometimes takes his daughters to work with him but that was not enough to prepare him for the prolonged time at home as the coronavirus outbreak in the United States worsens.
Zuckerberg lives with his wife Priscilla and their two daughters Maxima, four, and August, two
Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg: The Facebook CEO announced heis working at home amid the coronavirus pandemic and finding it difficult to balance his work and children
Variety editor Todd Spangler confirmed Zuckerberg is working from home on Twitter
Zuckerberg confirmed that he is ‘definitely working from home’ like all other Facebook employees, according to Variety digital editor Todd Spangler.
‘Like everyone is experiencing, it’s a big change to be working from home,’ he said, adding that he was trying to balance his work with taking care of two children.
In an interview with CBS host Gayle King in December 2019, Zuckerberg and Chan revealed that they do their best to separate work from home.
‘I mean, work comes home. We care deeply about our work. And so we don’t leave it at the door. But we are super careful about thinking about, “Is this the moment to talk about it”,’ Chan said.
To keep their relationship strong the couple go on weekly date nights, which was Zuckerberg’s idea, where work talk is banned.
The Facebook founder, 35, met his wife, 34, in 2003 in line for the bathroom at a frat party while they were both undergrads at Harvard University. Zuckerberg’s frat Alpha Epsilon Pi was hosting party and Chan, a sophomore at the time, attended the party.
The couple tied the knot in May 2012.
Zuckerberg told Gayle King in a 2019 interview, pictured, that he sometimes brings his daughters to work. They live in a Palo Alto home just ten minutes from Facebook offices
The Facebook CEO with his wife Priscilla Chan and daughters Maxima and August
King asked Chan how she handles the frenzy around Facebook while managing being a supportive wife and mother.
‘I think it’s hard. Like, the way your gut feels when your best friend comes home and it’s like “Hard day. Not sure what needs to come next”. Or waking up and night and being like he’s still not in bed,’ Chan said.
‘I also see that we’re still so fortunate. The touchstone of our family and ours kids and just knowing that we’re okay,’ she added.
The couple said they give their children chores and take them to work with them.
‘We also take them to work. Mark and I take both of them to work, to the office, to see sort of what we do, how we contribute,’ Chan said.
The couple is believed to have bought their lavish home in Palo Alto, California in 2011 for $7million. It is located just ten minutes away from the Facebook office at Menlo Park.
The family also owns a $59million Lake Tahoe compound consisting of two neighboring estates known as Brushwood Estate and Carousel Estate, as well as properties in Hawaii and San Francisco.
On Tuesday, Facebook committed thousands of dollars to helping its staff of 45,000 employees manage expenses during the coronavirus pandemic that is spreading across the globe.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced full-time workers will be given their six-month bonuses, along with an additional $1,000 to help those working remotely who do not have access to their usual catered meals, gyms and other services provided by the firm.
Contracted workers are not eligible for these funds, but will continued to be paid as they are also barred from entering the office.
‘We recognize that many people are going to need more time away to care for children and their families,’ Zuckerberg wrote in a memo, a copy of which was obtained by NBC News.
‘We also know that many of you may have additional expenses as part of setting up your home to enable remote work and support your family.
‘We’re going to grant all employees an additional $1,000 to use for whatever you see fit to support yourself and your family in adapting during this period.’
CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced full-time workers will be given their six-month bonuses, along with an additional $1,000 to help those working remotely during the shutdown
A chart of how coronavirus cases in the United States have increased since January
Facebook has mandated a work-from-home policy for a little over a week now. Other tech giants such as Twitter, Amazon, and Microsoft have also closed offices.
The recent news surfaced shortly after Facebook’s chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, announced that the firm would be investing $100 million to help small businesses in over 30 countries.
The majority will be in cash grants and Facebook will disclose more details soon about how businesses will be able to apply for assistance.
Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said in a post Tuesday that the economic disruption poses a severe risk to small businesses.
‘We’ve listened to small businesses to understand how we can best help them. We’ve heard loud and clear that financial support could enable them to keep the lights on and pay people who can’t come to work,’ Sandberg said, adding that Facebook is also going to make it easier for small businesses to get training and support from its teams.
Guy Rosen, Facebook’s vice president of integrity, took to Twitter Tuesday evening claiming that the company had fixed the issue following widespread outrage about posting
Facebook says a bug in its anti-spam system was blocking the publication of links to news stories about the coronavirus on Tueday but it is now rectified
On Wednesday during a press call, Zuckerberg also unveiled a ‘coronavirus information center’ and revealed that Facebook will make collaboration tools available to governments and emergency-response organizations for free for 12 months.
The move came after Facebook’s anti-spam system was found blocking the publication of links to news stories about the coronavirus.
Guy Rosen, Facebook’s vice president of integrity, took to Twitter Tuesday evening claiming that the company had fixed the issue following widespread outrage.
‘We’ve restored all the posts that were incorrectly removed, which included posts on all topics – not just those related to COVID-19. This was an issue with an automated system that removes links to abusive websites, but incorrectly removed a lot of other posts too,’ Rosen wrote.
Facebook users had been complaining earlier Tuesday that their attempts to share information and articles about the virus was being blocked by the social media giant.